Sixth district sees return of Pallone

The 2010 election season marked a drop for the Democratic Party
who lost 63 seats in the House of Representatives to the Republican
Party, who now controls the majority.

But New Jersey's 6th Congressional district saw less of a change
this election when 22-year incumbent Rep. Frank Pallone reclaimed
his seat.

"We can win when we have issues on our side and we're doing the
right thing for the average American," he said at 2250 Local
Carpenters Union Hall in Red Bank, N.J., on election night.

With two more years in office, Pallone hoped to develop the
middle class.

"As we move forward with the country, in terms of what Congress
and the president have done within the last few years, we really
were trying to stabilize the economy," he said. "We were trying to
grow the middle class."

Pallone said his role as a congressman is to prevent large
corporate entities from taking advantage of average Americans.

"If the big banks and the financial institutions on Wall Street
are not doing the right thing and causing the economic downturn we
have to reform the system," he said.

He extended the same idea of reform to the health care system,
which he said needed change if it continues to be unaffordable for
citizens.

Throughout his campaign Pallone emphasized his plan to tackle
the high unemployment rate, which he centered on his "Make it in
America" mantra.

Based on the mantra, he believes that good should be produced on
United States soil and Pallone intended to plug up legislative
loopholes that outsource jobs while establishing a national
manufacturing policy and a fair trade policy.

"What we don't need is those policies expressed by the Tea Party
movement, which basically says there shouldn't be any government
regulation," he said. "We need to have a type of government that
responds to the average person and protects the average person from
these diffuses … of the special interests."

Pallone snagged the victory from his Republican opponent Anna
Little, then Borough of Highlands mayor, with a 9 percent lead,
which is a slim margin for a long time congressman.

Little, a Tea Party-backed candidate, thanked her supporters for
their vote on election night at the Shore Casino in Atlantic
Highlands.

"Everything we have accomplished is a foundation [and] we are
not finished yet," she said. "You know where you started out and
you know what our founding fathers gave up. You care about the
future of your children and grandchildren. That's what we're
about."

Little said she ran because she believed the longtime incumbent
has lost touch with the needs of his constituents.

"There's a disconnect between the people of district six and
their elected representative," she said. "He does not listen to
them. He thinks he knows better than they do, and they are
irate."

To help remedy the budget deficit, Little wanted to reduce
government spending and the size of the government as a whole.

"We don't deficit spend at home," she said at the first public
debate with Pallone at the Temple Shalom in Aberdeen. "When the
balance in the banking account is zero, we stop spending. We need
to have more revenue before we can spend again."

Little also planned to create jobs but cultivating small and
midsized businesses, where most job growth occurs.

"The whole point of going into business is to make a profit and
to grow," she said. "Every large corporation used to be a small
business. That's how it works."

Little said the best way to help business is to support a free
market that will foster competition and consumer demand.

"Government needs to get out of the way," she said. "We need to
revisit regulations and make sure they are not stifling economic
growth."

Little's Campaign Chair Leigh-Ann Bellew said many of her
supporters took an active part in campaigning for the first
time.

"I would say most, maybe 80 or 90 percent, have never done this
before in their lives," she said. "[So] the voters and the
constituents of Congressional District 6 are winners because they
got out there and they did something we haven't seen in a very long
time."

Despite her loss, Little put up a close fight for the
congressional seat, even shaking the confidence of Sen. Frank
Lautenberg, D-N.J., who supported Pallone.

Present at his colleague's election night, Lautenberg admitted
he was apprehensive for Pallone's race and came to show
support.

"Pallone's race is a signal to the other side that no matter how
rough the campaign is, no matter how tough the vernacular is, the
fact is that we stand on the issues, and we're going to recover
from whatever happens down in Washington," Lautenberg said. "It
certainly was a fight but we're glad to have a victory
tonight."